Hopper door regulator



D60 30, 1952 E. J. CORRIGAN ET AL 2,623,476

HOPPER DOOR REGULATOR Filed May 24, 1950 I NVENTORS ,i N Eforrz Q72 R MZSOR l BY ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 30, `1952 2,623,476 HOPPER DOOR REGULATOR Edward J. Corrigan and Robert L. Wilson, Calais, Maine Application May 24, 1950, Serial No. 163,896

(Cl. 10S- 286) 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a regulating device for regulating the opening of a hopper door beneath a freight car of the hopper body type.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved means whereby the hopper door of a freight car may be regulated as to its opening position so as to permit the discharge of the material from the interior of the car at a predetermined rate.

Another object of this invention is to provide a regulator of this type which is adapted to be secured to a rail and to engage the lower side of the hopper door with the regulator adjustable as to length so as to provide for opening or closing the hopper door to the desired degree.

Another object of this invention is to provide a regulator of this type which is separable from the hopper door and is of simple construction.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the arrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a, detailed side elevation of hopper door regulator constructed according to an embodiment of this invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral I designates generally the hopper body of a freight or railway car having a hinged hopper door II secured to the bottom wall I3 thereof. The hopper door I I is adapted to be locked or latched in its upper closed position by any suitable locking or latching means (not shown), and in order to provide a means whereby the degree of downward swinging of hopper door I3 may be regulated, we have provided a screw jack I2 which is pivotally mounted on a rail clamping member I4. The rear end of the screw shaft I2 is flattened as indicated at I5, and the clamping member I4 which is formed of complementary vertically disposed webs I6 and I1 is formed with spaced apart ears I8 and I9 through which a pivot bolt 20 engages.

The bolt 20 engages through the flat end I5 of the screw shaft I2. The lower end of web I6 is formed with a U-shaped rail head clamping jaw ZI, and the lower end of web I1 is formed of a U-shaped rail headed clamping jaw 22. The two U-sh-aped jaws 2| and 22 are tightly clamped to the rail head 23 by means of a clamping bolt 24. An elongated tubular member 25 telescopes over the forward end of the screw shaft I and is fixed at its rear end in a socket 26 formed in a nut 21 which is threaded on shaft I2. A handle or crank 23is fixed to the nut 21 and provides a means whereby the nut 21 may be rotated to extend or retract the tubular member 25. A door engaging head 28 is disposed at the forward end of the tubular member 25, being provided with a knurled forward end 29 and also including a stud 30. The stud 30 is rotatable in a bushing or sleeve 3i which is fixed as by pressing or the like in the forward end of tubular member 25.

A pair of thrust lbearings 32 are interposed between the head 28 and the forward end of tubular member 25. The inner end of stud 30 may be upset as indicated at 33 so as to rotatably retain the stud 30 within bushing 3I. The rear end of tubular member 25 is secured within socket 26 by means of a set screw or other fastening means 34.

In the use and operation of this regulator, when it is desired to drop door Il to an open position, clamping member I4 is secured to the rail head 23, and swivel head 28 carried by extensible member 25 is adjusted by means of rotating the nut 21 to engage the lower side of door I I and thereby hold this door in the desired open position.

This regulator will provide a simple means whereby hopper doors which are not regulatable by hand wheels or other means can be adjusted as to their open positions by a relatively finely adjustable means in the form of an extensible jack structure.

What is claimed is:

1. A regulator for the hopper door of a rail car comprising an extensible member formed of an elongated screw shaft and a tubular member telescoping over said shaft, a nut fixed to said tubular member and threaded on said shaft, a handle fixed to said nut, a, bushing secured in the forward end of said tubular member, a thrust bearing mounted forwardly of said bushing, a stud extending through said thrust bearing and said bushing and freely rotatable therein, said stud having an upset rear end adjacent the rear end of the bushing for retaining said stud in said bushing, a door engaging head fixedly secured to the forward end of said stud and abutting against said thrust bearing, whereby said tubular member is rotatable relative to said head, the outer end of said head being knurled for holding the same in engagement with said hopper door, a vertically disposed clamp means for gripping a rail, and means pivotally mounting said shaft to said clamp means whereby said shaft and tubular member in the operative position thereof may be obliquely disposed relative to said clamp means.

2. A regulator for the hopper door of a rail car comprising an extensible member formed of an elongated screw shaft, a tubular member telescoping over said shaft, a nut xed to said tubular member and threaded on said shaft, a handle EDWARD J. CORRIGAN. ROBERT L. WILSON.

4 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Vfile of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Drinker June 30, 1891 Potter Oct. 1, 1907 De France et al. Sept. 8, 1908 Benatar Dec. 15, 1936 Frankman July 30, 1940 

